Daughter of the Alpha

Chapter eight

Shit, this is boring.

The bench AJ was sitting on was hard and uncomfortable, and the wooden wall she sat up against was cold. She was pretty sure her butt would fall asleep any minute. She stretched her legs out in front of her. How did her father sit through this? She watched him sit in his chair on the platform, one hand on the armrest, the other scratching his chin as he contemplated the wolf standing before him. Noah, the Enforcer. He had been gone for a week, along with a handful other wolves, patrolling the southern borders of their territory.

"The Silverstream pack has moved its borders, they're encroaching on our territory by more than we can forgive. They've claimed all the southern fields," Noah explained. "Their new Alpha is ambitious, rumor has it that he is planning to extend a hand to the Oaktree Pack up north." He crossed his bulging arms over his chest and took a deep breath. "He's hoping for an alliance. If they succeed then we'll be pinched between them."

AJ yawned. This wasn't the first time she had heard this, the Silverstreams were always trying to widen their territory, every new Alpha had that brilliant plan but they always failed. She also knew exactly what her father would answer before he opened his mouth. Alpha Winter placed his hand back down on the armrest and chuckled darkly. "They replace their Alphas almost every year, it is a chaotic pack, they are divided. Need I remind you that we are all in an alliance, every single pack in this state. We are a brotherhood. The Oaktrees will never cut those ties no matter how hungry the Silverstreams are."

Especially not since the Alpha of the Oaktrees is mated to my sister, AJ thought, suppressing yet another yawn. She knew her father didn't need to mention it, the Oaktrees were especially loyal to him because of that fact. But Noah was always on edge, protecting the pack was his responsibility and he took it more than seriously.

"I will send word to this new Alpha, Dominic Green if my memory serves me right, and we will have a talk," Alpha Winter continued with a wave of his hand, "Perhaps we should invite him and his representatives to the Spring Ball, I will talk with him then." He glanced at the wolf sitting on a stool beside him, taking notes as he spoke. Bella Williams. She pushed her round glasses further up on her nose and gave a short nod in response, typing frantically on her little tablet, no doubt inviting Alpha Green immediately. AJ always thought of the redheaded Omega as a secretary, but even she had to admit the recordkeeper was probably the most knowledgable wolf in the pack. She didn't know her very well, no one did except for her father who spent a lot of time with her. AJ had never managed to have a whole conversation with the Omega, she was shy and quiet, always kept to herself in her house full of pack records.

"Alpha Winter," Noah acknowledged in understanding, lowering his head to the side, exposing his throat in a sign of respect before stepping away and off the platform. He took his seat in the Gathering hall, only a few seats from where AJ was sitting.

AJ yawned again, this time forgetting to hide it. Quickly she glanced around the hall to see if anyone had noticed. Not that there were that many people there. The Gathering house was open to everyone, every Thursday the Alpha would sit in his chair, listening to petitions, news from his territory or any other issue someone within the pack would raise. But there were rarely many wolves present, this pack was running smoothly most of the time, her dad made sure of that. And only a handful of wolves other than her were in attendance that day, most of whom were in the group Noah had taken to the southern border. AJ herself would always stay a mile away from the boring old meetings.

Only, unfortunate circumstances, which included her increasingly bad habit of always being late, had annoyed her father enough, and she was currently being punished by attending every single open pack meeting until she turned eighteen. This was seriously cutting into her time in the hunting cabin, which she convinced herself she wouldn't even care that much about if it hadn't been for the fact that she was finally getting good at chess. She huffed angrily and leaned back against the wall, causing the bench to creak loudly. This time a warning glance from her father forced her to swallow the yawn.